Dana Pride

Education

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Publication Type(s)

Fiction, Children's Books

Latest Publication Title

After the Great Devastation

Publication Excerpt

I still had a million questions, but I knew better than to ask. We would have plenty of time for talking when we were out of range, after we attached our Wat-Coms to a cow’s leg. I smiled at the thought. Were we actually going to do that? It sounded ridiculous but it was thrilling! My heart was thudding with excitement and I was trying to control its beating so it wouldn’t betray us through my Wat-Com pulse monitor. We walked together through the Complex to the East Entrance, the same way we had done thousands of times. I felt eyes watching us, but my logic was working to convince me that they trusted us. They had no idea what we were doing. We were just kids who were going outside the Complex, inside the Wall, for a break. Then, there we were, out in the open, outside the building but inside the Wall, where every inch of space was covered by cameras. The Monitors who monitored the Outside monitors were more diligent than the rest of the Monitors. We had to behave the same way we always did, pretending to laugh and converse about nothing important. This time, though, we didn’t stand around looking at the fountains or go sit on a bench by one of the manufactured gardens. We stayed on the path to the exit gate, as if we had clearance to leave. I had t o keep in mind, we DID have clearance to leave; Kenrick had given it to us, free and clear.

As we approached the Exit Gate, I used my breathing techniques so in my highly excited condition I wouldn’t arouse the suspicion of the Gate Guards. The Gate Guards weren’t paying any attention to us, though, for some reason. All four of them were entranced by their Wat-Coms. I glanced at mine and saw that nothing out of the ordinary was being displayed as we walked through the detectors. No alarms were sounded and the Gate Guards didn’t even acknowledge our presence, an extremely odd occurrence. They didn’t stop us. As I understood, they were to scan our IDs, ask us where we were going and how long we would be gone, and check our clearance in the computer. They didn’t say anything to us. Kenrick was in the lead and he said something to them that I couldn’t understand. They didn’t respond to him. They didn’t seem to even notice we were there, walking out of the Complex. We walked right out of the Complex!

We followed Kenrick straight down the road without talking. I had a hard time just walking and not dancing down the road, I was so excited. I saw a large building ahead of us in the distance. We approached the building and Hiding Cathy stopped and looked at the wall. She put her hand into a space and a small door opened in front of her. She beckoned for us to quickly follow her inside the building.

Additional Publications

The Red CloakNightmares of MurderNo One Like YouExistingAll These ThingsKissing a Dead ManWe Choose Our Memories: Sayings of the Old FolksWe Choose Our Memories: Sayings of the Young Folks

How did Evergreen help you in your career?

Gave me hands-on experience with all kinds of equipment and situations, taught me to be self-motivated and to take control of situations when others didn't fulfill their roles.